Kedleston Hall

Kedleston Hall is known to be one of the earliest and greatest works of Robert Adam. Sir Nathaniel Curzon (later 1st Lord Scarsdale) began the house in 1759 first working with Matthew Brettingham, and then with James Paine. Towards the end of 1758 Adam was taken on to work on the park landscape and garden buildings; he then progressed to working on the house itself. The Hall is Grade I listed and sits within Kedleston Park, which is in its own right Grade I listed in Historic England’s Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. Within the park and gardens are numerous individually listed structures. Kedleston Hall was given to the National Trust in 1986 by Viscount Scarsdale.

Nick Cox has been involved at Kedleston Hall since 1994 and since forming Nick Cox Architects in 2006. Various elements of work have included: quinquennial inspections for the house and park buildings; repairs to the ha-ha, churchyard walls and Hermitage in the garden; repairs to the stone staircases; re-roofing works to the house and stables, including works to the Marble Hall rooflights and works to improve services and decorations to the family wing. 

Three of the cantilever staircases within the Hall had serious concerns over cracking to landings and steps.

For the repairs archive research, non-destructive investigations, detailed analysis of the stairs and of the use of the house and thorough debate over the interface between operational, visitor and emergency use alongside what could be achieved to improve the structural performance of the stairs were all deeply analysed. This resulted in relatively low physical intervention with predominantly masonry and resin repairs showing little visual impact but nevertheless leaving the property with functional serviceable staircases.

The Marble Hall Floor dates to the 1760s and is contemporary with the current hall’s construction. It is finished in Hoptonwood stone with Italian marble borders and honeysuckle-inspired detailing. It is thought to be the most complete original Adam floor, and thus is arguably one of the most significant floors in the care of the National Trust. Nick Cox Architects reported on a long-running monitoring and investigation project, which looked at the condition and deterioration of the Marble Hall Floor. This included detailed surveys, material studies, dynamic load testing with careful opening up. Rather than intrusive works, the results found helped inform the Trust’s decision to implement a policy of limiting access to the extreme north and south ends of the hall, with more minor material repairs. 

The three oval rooflights to the Marble Hall had long standing water ingress issues. A temporary roof over the hall afforded the ability to study the existing structures and establish that the issue was not the cast bronze glazing bars, that were in good condition, but that they were too short and did not protect the seating of the rooflight. Bespoke cast bronze extensions were fitted with new clips for the glass, not requiring alterations to the existing rooflights. The glass reinstated was laminated with a UV filter to help the internal conditions and conservation. 

The Hermitage, built in 1762-3, is the only remaining ‘incident’ within the 18th Century Robert Adam ‘Long Walk’ landscape at Kedleston Hall. Having gradually fallen into disrepair and lost its roof, the Hermitage had spent the 20 years of its life encased in a protective scaffolding, upon which it had begun to lean. Nick Cox Architects were appointed to engage specialists in material science, engineering, archaeology and ecology to inform the final repairs which included stabilization of the fabric and installing a new roof structure and thatch cover. The project aimed to preserve the remaining delicate fabric of the Hermitage, to restore the lost elements to match their earliest archival record, and ensure visitors to the parkland could enjoy and understand this building as it was originally intended for many years to come.